ROCKIN' BABIES Lucile Bultz, better known as "Grandma Lucile" at the North Platte Community Daycare, has been volunteering to care for babies at the center for the past 11 years. "My job is to rock 'em, feed 'em and love 'em," she says. She is one of two volunteer "grandmas" at the center.
ANIMAL LOVER Before she was old enough to volunteer, Emily Brott was visiting the North Platte Animal Shelter with her grandfather. Now 12, Emily was at the shelter nearly every day through the summer. She knows every animal by name and loves them all.
BRINGING THEM TOGETHER North Platte's Ready to Serve program, formerly RSVP, organizes and tracks volunteer efforts of local groups and individuals in a variety of venues, in addition to sponsoring events. In the past 40 years of existence in North Platte, volunteers have logged nearly 3.5 million hours.
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Volunteer grandma loves rocking babies Day care center takes advantage of gentle spirit, willing arms By HEATHER JOHNSON hjohnson@nptelegraph.com
Owen Eckhoff couldn’t have been happier. He was warm, had a full belly and was being rocked to sleep at the North Platte Community Daycare. At 6 months old, he was already attached to the elderly woman holding him. Eckhoff smiled, cooed and snuggled closer to “Grandma Lucile,” burrowing his face into her neck. “This is what makes it all worth it,” said volunteer Lucile Bultz, as she gently placed a kiss on the baby’s forehead. “There’s something about these little ones. I just love them to pieces.” She has been caring for babies at the day care center for 11 years. “My job is to rock ’em, feed ’em and love ’em,” Bultz said. “I also
Volunteer Lucile Bultz snuggles with Owen Eckhoff, has volunteered to rock babies for 11 years.
work at the front desk if they’re short on help.” She’s one of two volunteer “grandmas” the facility has. Bultz works eight-hour shifts five days a week. She offered her services
after a representative from the Gering-based Foster Grandparents Program contacted her about volunteering. Bultz thought it sounded like a good reason to get out of the
It’s hard to let the babies go when they get old enough to move to another room.” Judging from Eckhoff’s contentment, the children enjoy her as much as she enjoys them. Bultz receives hugs on a daily basis from kids she has cared for as infants. They flock to her if she’s out and about around town. Some of the children in the daycare come from foster homes and don’t have grandparents of their own. Bultz fills that void for them. “Lucile is such a sweet lady and extremely dedicated,” said Sarah Lungrin, the center’s administrative assistant. “I get to work at 7 a.m. and she always beats me here. Our volunteers really help us because we never know how busy we’re going to be. They fill in wherever needed.” Bultz said she would Heather Johnson / The North Platte Telegraph encourage everyone to 6 months, at the North Platte Community Daycare. Bultz volunteer if they can — especially because the need is so great. “I’m 87. I’m gonna rethey’re everywhere,” house. Volunteering tire when I get old, but also gave her the oppor- Bultz said, gesturing right now I don’t want tunity to do something around the infant room to give this up,” Bultz with a sweep of her she always wanted to said as she tucked a do: Work with kids. She hand. “It’s wonderful. I fleece blanket around have the weekends off, Eckhoff. “I want to never had any of her but I’m always glad to own. spend the rest of my get back on Mondays. “I get here and life right here.”
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NP shelter is perfect spot for animal lover 12-year-old has ideas to make dogs, cats more comfortable
said there is always a need for volunteers like Emily, who work consistently and have a real drive to take care of the animals. Many volunteers come once or twice and leave, or are doing community service on probation. Ross said volunteers like Emily, who know By LIZ MCCUE the shelter and how to liz.mccue@nptelegraph.com run it, help keep work going. Before she was old Volunteers at the enough to volunteer, shelter aren’t just Emily Brott would walking dogs and playspend hours at the ing with cats. Even North Platte Animal during an interview, Shelter with her grandEmily was emptying father. She’s been coma dryer full of clean ing with him since she towels for bedding and was 6 years old. cleaning, changing out Emily is now 12, and water pails and makone of the first things ing sure someone was she did on her own was getting food for the head over to the sheldogs. ter to volunteer. When a cat started Her cousin, Maddie yowling one room Seamann, 18, also vol- away, Emily lisunteers at the animal tened and said, matshelter. ter-of-factly, the cat A love for animals was lonely. He had just runs in her family. Her gotten adopted, she parents own a ranch said, so the cat had north of the city. Embeen taken out of the ily has played foster display room so no one mom to kittens on the else would try to adopt ranch, and she and her him. mother have rescued a The animal shelter is chihuahua-mix puppy a labyrinth of rooms to from near death. The separate the animals dog is now happily ready for adoption situated in the Brott from the animals that residence. have just been rescued “My family is acor surrendered. There tually full of animal are also storage rooms, lovers,” Emily said. offices and a room for She said she loves grooming and cleanvolunteering at the an- ing. imal shelter. For sevThe facility sees eral weeks during the lots of animals come summer, she has come through, not just cats every day the shelter and dogs. Emily said is open. She knows the she had seen a ferret animals by name and once and there was a she also knows their pair of bunnies anothtemperaments and er time she was volunthe clockwork of the teering. shelter. She said there is a Kerri Ross, animal need for stronger volshelter supervisor, unteers.
“We need bigger people to walk the dogs,” she said. There is also quite a bit of work to be done on the grounds. There are some sticker weeds that can make grooming difficult. Emily’s idea is that a local business could come in and help with that — not landscaping, she said, but just cleaning up the weeds and making the space more pleasant for the animals. “There’s a lot of responsibility for volunteers,” Emily said. Emily said she would eventually like to work in the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in either Houston or Los Angeles. But that’s quite a ways away for the middle school student. Along with volunteers, Ross said the shelter is always in need of animal (not baby) bottles, kitten and puppy formula, healthy dog and cat food and foster mother cats for abandoned Liz McCue / The North Platte Telegraph kittens. Emily Brott holds Eliza, a rescued dog at the North Platte Animal Shelter, in one of People interested in the outdoor runs between shelter buildings. Eliza was recently adopted. Emily said helping can check out she loves volunteering at the animal shelter. the shelter’s Facebook page, where volunteers post updates on animals ready for adoption and more, at www. facebook.com/NorthPlatteAnimalShelter.
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RSVP offers plenty of opportunities Program now organizes volunteers of all ages agency for RSVP. “The city has always been our local funding In July 2013, the partner,” Songster said. North Platte RSVP program changed from “They have been generous enough to have the Retired and Senior done that for the last 40 Volunteer Program to years.” the North Platte Area The original Retired Ready to Serve proand Senior Volunteer gram. Program had its start RSVP has been a in the Older Americans presence in the comAct of 1965. That same munity for 39 years, year, the Community Its mission of proService Society of New viding opportunities York began a pilot profor volunteers withgram on Staten Island in North Platte and involving a small group Lincoln County has of older adults volunnot changed, but the teering in their comscope of the program has, said director Dana munities. It was called SERVE Songster. (Serve and Enrich “We chose to no Retirement by Volunlonger receive grant funding from the feder- teer Experience.) The success of the program al government,” Songster said in response to led to an amendment to the Older Americans a question about what Act, creating RSVP in prompted the change. “When you receive fed- 1969. RSVP was launched eral funding, you have to do it by their regula- in the spring of 1971 tions. Most of those had with a federal appropriation of $500,000. to do with RSVP memOlder volunteers still bers being 55 years old make up the majority of or older.” volunteers in the North The change meant Platte program. There opening up the proare currently 660 regisgram to people of all ages who want to volun- tered members. “Each April we go to teer. our schools and hand “Right now our youngest volunteer is 8 out books,” Songster years old and our oldest said. “This year, we also talked about the is 99,” Songster said. change in our program. There are currently We also went to the 36 registered volunteers who are age 90 or Lincoln County Fair to talk about it. We are older, she said. There are 34 people registered trying to get out there and let people know. who are younger than “I think our volun55. teers really enjoy what The city of North they do,” Songster Platte is the funding By DIANE WETZEL dwetzel@nptelegraph.com
Telegraph file photos
North Platte’s Retired and Senior Volunteer program has been a strong presence in the community for almost 40 years. Last year, the program evolved into the Ready to Serve Program. Among the many popular events is the annual Golden Games during Nebraskaland Days. In this photo, participants celebrate good luck with blackjack.
Participants in the annual Golden Games event during Nebraskaland Days try their hand at cup stacking. RSVP is a North Platte organization that organizes volunteer opportunities and tracks the hours logged by participants.
said. “It’s not only about helping someone else, it’s about helping themselves. Our older volunteers will tell you that. It’s about getting out, staying active and being a vital part of the community. We all know the impressive things our volunteers do.” Songster said she would encourage all service groups, from Boy Scout troops to church groups, to register with RSVP so their volunteer hours can be recorded. “We encourage all volunteers of North Platte and Lincoln County to be a part of
our program,” she said. “It helps capture what is truly happening as far as volunteering goes. We encourage them to come in and sign up. If they don’t want to do more than what they are already doing, that is perfectly OK.”
RSVP is able to track the number of hours spent volunteering, something that could come in handy for a young person applying for college, scholarships and awards. “We track their hours, so anytime they need a letter of
reference, we can be a reference for them,” she said. During the past 40 years more than 2,000 volunteers ages 55 years and older have contributed 3,461,835 hours of volunteer service to North Platte and the surrounding area. Since its inception, RSVP has grown from a volunteer force of 20 people to an active membership of 660 volunteers serving in 104 community organizations in North Platte and Lincoln County. More information about RSVP can be found on the city of North Platte’s website at www.ci.north-platte. ne.us. The organization also has a Facebook page at North Platte Area RSVP.